BandungBergerak.id – Two countries, two historical cities, one legendary story. That’s everything I can mention from this novel. Dickens published this book in 1859. Starting in a background scene of Paris in 1775. Dickens excellently opened this book with a memorable paragraph.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Goosebumps. The only world to describe those words. From my childhood era, I was always exposed to the beauty of Paris as a loveable city with a building that shows romanticness; Eiffel tower. After I read this book, my sight changed. How cruel this city was. Even though I happened to think that this was just how the French revolution is seen by the Englishman.

In this book, Dickens depicts the lowest, cruellest, and worst populace of Paris in their revolution era. A symbol he drew as a satire of the ruthless king at the time, combined with a classical French element: a romantic story. All of these are written precisely in this book.

Ironically, this book is still related to this era. Even after one hundred and sixty-six years of this book being published, we can feel like we believe that the sentence “It was an age of belief, it was an age of unbelief” was made in this era.

I feel today’s era is quite like what happened in Paris 1775. The chaos, corruption, and inequity of the government are all happening in Bandung nowadays. Also, the fact of the current government is ruthless that people can’t be heard, helped, or noticed if they have no money or come from a middle class society. The class stratification happening today is exactly what happened in the France revolution but in a modern way.

“Indonesia today is a desperate time, when desperate games are played for desperate stakes” if I may say to describe my country’s condition.

Dickens’ powerful words and rhyming has punched us in the face. We are often innocent about what happens around us, especially in Indonesia. “In short, the period was so far like the present period …”  If you read that part with your heart, you will feel like our recent days are already written from more than a decade ago.

There is one incident in this book that is really close enough to the incident that happened recently in Indonesia. In this book, Dickens shows an incident when a lower France class had to leave the street when a coach riding an aristocrat  passed through their area. Deja Vu, right? In Indonesia, especially in Bandung, we also had to pull over our vehicles so the government officials can pass on the road with their prestigious cars.

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A tale from the main characters

So long as Dickens writes this novel, he puts something that truly happened in Paris. Bastille prison, an aristocratic family who is stabbed in the chest, a coin that is thrown to the civilian by a King, and the most ironic scene: people licking a street to just drink a wine that fell on the ground. All of them are adopted from what happened back then in Paris by Dickens. Brutal.

Dickens portrays a very complicated love story where an aristocratic member named Charles Darnay fell in love with Lucie Manette. An English lady who went to Paris looking for his dad. They both fall in love and have a child named Little Lucie to distinguish her from her mother. In the middle of Darnay and Lucie’s loving era, there was Sydney Carton. He was a disillusioned, alcoholic lawyer who has a face similar to Darnay’s and also falls in love with Lucie.

In the end, Darnay wins Lucie by the permission directly from his dad, Dr. Manette. “I love your daughter fondly, dearly, disinterestedly, devotedly.” Says Darnay when he proposes to her dad.

The last paragraph

Unfortunately, even though this novel has a happy ending for Darnay and the French. It’s a tragic ending for Sydney Carton. He sacrificed himself to be killed by guillotine. When the people of France brutally killed every member of the aristocratic family, Cartoon kidnapped Darnay from prison to save him. He gave Darnay to Dr. Manette. He then replaced Darnay’s position in that prison. His similar face with Darnay had made people think that brought the aristocrat to be put under a guillotine. Instead, they executed Carton over Darnay.

The sacrifice of Sydney Carton’s life is drawn by the heart voice of him to close this book. In my head, when I was about to end this book, Dickens tried to give Carton a tribute to his heroic attitude to save this tale. With an insight of Darnay and Lucie leaving Paris, Carton’s voice poetically contends this scene.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

About Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth on 7th February 1812 to John Dickens and Elisabeth Dickens. Charles, known as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era, his novels are widely read today. He has written 17 novels including 2 historical novels.

Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities in 1859 after his concern about dark times and poverty in Paris. A Tale of Two Cities is showing the mess of Paris and London’s order. He also puts his point of view about social phenomena with his symbolic, satire sentences. A Tale of Two Cities tells about the impact of epochal events on the personal lives of people in France and England.

Book’s information

Title: A Tale of Two Cities

Publisher: Alma Classics

Edition: Third edition, 2021

Length: 404 pages